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These European Style Potato Pancakes are a very popular dish throughout Europe. In Poland, they are known as ‘Placki Ziemniaczane,’ in Germany as ‘Kartoffelpuffer,’ in the Czech Republic as ‘Bramboracky,’ and of course, every Jewish deli refers to them as ‘Potato Latkes.’
This Potato Pancake recipe is super easy. The old fashion way of making them required shredding by hand. However for this recipe, there’s no shredding of potatoes involved….the blender does the job for you.
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Potato Pancakes – Very Popular Dish Across Europe
I grew up in Poland where Potato Pancakes (Placki Zimeniaczane) are among the most popular dishes. And I know for a fact that Kartoffelpuffer (German Potato Panaces) and Bramboracky (Czech Potato Pancakes) are equally popular in their respective countries. Every kid I know loves them!
Yet, in Poland the kids usually favor them sprinkled with some sugar. Although this is a really popular way of serving Potato Pancakes, it wasn’t really my cup of tea. I don’t know why, but I’ve always preferred savory over sweet, so I like my Potato Pancakes with sour cream and scallions.
I also love them as a side dish. See below suggestions on what to serve these best Potato Pancakes with.
How to Make Potato Pancakes
The worst part of making Potato Pancakes was shredding the potatoes and the onions and cloves of garlic. It was time-consuming, hard, and also dangerous (you could shred your knuckles). I’ve since found a much easier way to make them. And their taste and texture are still phenomenal. I use a simple blender.
For the Ingredients you will need:
- About 3 cups of cubed potatoes (yellow or white potatoes are best for this recipe);
- Half of a medium sized Sweet Onion;
- 1 garlic clove;
- 1 egg;
- 1/3 cup of flour;
- And some salt & pepper.
Easy Steps to Make Potato Pancakes
Step 1:Â Add potatoes to the blender and blend for a few minutes, until they release their juices.
Step 2: Then add onions and garlic and blend for a few more minutes.
Step 3: Once it’s completely blended, pour the mixture through a thin mesh strainer and let it sit for about 10 minutes. You want to get rid of the extra moisture.
Step 4: After 10 minutes, pour the mixture into a bowl and add egg, flour, salt, and pepper, then mix together.
Step 5:Â Heat up a little bit of oil in a pan and fry up a test pancake.
Sep 6: Flip it and fry it on the other side.
Step 7: Then take it out and place it on a paper towel, dry out and taste it. If the pancake needs more salt or pepper, you should adjust seasoning and fry up the remaining pancakes.
And here they are…beautiful, golden brown, scrumptious Placki Ziemniaczane, Kartoffelpuffer, Bamboracky or Potato Latkas. Can you resist them?
What to serve Potato Pancakes with?
As I mentioned above you can sprinkle them with sugar and serve with sour cream, or for a savory version sprinkle them with some scallions. You can also serve them as a side dish. Here are a couple of my suggestions:
- Hungarian Goulash – this is super popular (in Poland we would call it “Placek po Wegiersku,” which literally translates to “Hungarian Pancake”). This is probably my favorite way to enjoy these pancakes;
- Beef Stew with Butternut Squash and Pomegranate;
- Moroccan Spiced Beef Stew;
- Chicken Chasseur (French Hunter’s Chicken);
- Creamy Mushroom Sauce;
- Pork Chops in Creamy White Wine Sauce.
Equipment Needed To Make Potato Pancakes
Here are a couple of items that are needed to make these pancakes. You probably have most of these items already at home:
- Blender, to process potatoes, onions, and garlic;
- Strainer, to release the moisture from potatoes;
- Measuring Cup, to measure the potatoes and the flour;
- Glass Bowl, to mix the batter in;
- Frying pan, to fry up your pancakes.
Other Famous European Recipes to Try
- Polish Pierogi with Potato and Cheese;
- Skinny Stuffed Cabbage Rolls;
- Parsley Potatoes;
- Hungarian Mushroom Soup;
- Mizeria (Polish Cucumber Salad);
- Dill Pickle Soup;
- Polish Apple Pancakes (Racuchy)
European Style Potato Pancakes
Ingredients
- 3 cups Potatoes Cubed, yellow or white
- 1/2 Onions Sweet, chopped in big cubes
- 1 clove Garlic
- 1/3 cup Flour
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp Cooking Oil for frying
- Sour cream optional for serving
- Scallions optional for serving
Instructions
- Place the potatoes in a blender and blend for 2 minutes until they release moisture
- Add onions and garlic and blend for another minute
- Pour the mixture through a thin mesh strainer and let it sit for 10 minutes
- After 10 minutes pour the mixture into the bowl
- Add egg, flour, salt, and pepper and mix together
- Heat up a tablespoon of oil and fry up a test pancake
- Taste it and adjust seasoning of the mixture if needed
- Add oil as needed and fry up the remaining of the pancakes
Notes
Nutrition
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This post was originally published on March 6, 2016, and since then was updated to provide additional information.
My mom use to put something in the spuds so they didn’t darken, do you know what that is? How many spuds equal 3 cups of spuds. She use to fry them in bacon grease. She couldn’t fry them fast enough for us. Do you have a recipe for cabbage soup?
I honestly have no idea what spuds are. I’ll have cabbage soup on the blog one day 🙂
These look wonderful and I will definitely be making them for dinner tonight! Thanks!
What kind of potatoes should be used?
TIA
I used yellow potatoes.
Spuds are potatoes
Hi can i freeze the potato pancakes?
You can freeze them separated on a baking sheet. Once frozen you can transfer them to sealed bag. They should be eaten within 2 weeks though.
I’m new to cooking. Do you cook the potatoes before putting in blender?
No, you don’t cook potatoes first. Just add uncooked potatoes to the blender 🙂
Thanks for sharing. Delicious and satisfying. I agree about It being more of a salty dish. I didn’t have sour cream at the moment so I had mine w Greek yogurt and fresh cheese. And sausage on a side.
A tip if It happens to be still too moist when you cook It, is to pour the portion that you are about to cook in a Little strainer while you are cooking the First pancake and then throw It on the pan straight from the strainer and do the same w the next portion. It worked perfect for me as here It is a very humid weather.